Saturday, June 28, 2008

KING MAGNUS BARELEGS AND PEEL CASTLE


I was originally only going to feature a short series of Viking Posts for a limted period. As I still have some images to use that tie in with the Viking theme I thought I'd continue for a little while longer. So, until I've either exhausted the research for now or "Ramsey Week" starts, (which I will have to photograph), I will continue in the same vein. Today we are leaving Ramsey to go over to the East Coast and the town of Peel. Well we are going there virtually of course.

KING MAGNUS BARELEGS

King Magnus 2nd, to give him his correct title, is usually refered to as "Magnus Barelegs." He acquired this nickname simply as he had a penchant for wearing kilts, and showing off his unclad legs, hence earning the barelegs part of his name. Besides the Kilt wearing he also managed to get himself expelled from Norway for opening his father's grave, Olaf the 2nd. After conquering many lands he settled in the Isle of Man and Built Peel Castle incorporating the Celtic monastries.

PEEL CASTLE

Peel Castle, is one of the Isle of Man’s principal historic monuments sits upon the important site of St Patrick’s Isle at Peel. The Castle’s Curtain Wall encircles the ruins of many buildings which are a testimony to the site’s religious and secular importance in Manx history. These include St. Patrick’s Church and the Round Tower from the 11th century, the 13th century Cathedral of St. German, and the later apartments of the Lords of Mann. The importance of the Isle as a centre of Manx Christianity was established in the 6th century and this role was to survive the arrival of the Pagan Norse Vikings at the end of the 8th century. In the 11th century it became the ruling seat of the Norse Kingdom of Man and the Isles, first united by Godred Crovan as mentioned in earlier posts and the statue photographed.

It's now a popular tourist attraction of course like most historical monuments and plays a major part as the backdrop the the Viking Festival that takes place yearly. Yes Manxies really do dress as Viking, sail longboats and invade their own island. Islalnd life for you, can send you a little stir crazy, but it's all good fun. Honest.

16 comments:

Cath said...

A bit of stir crazy hurt no one. Great post. Loads of work gone into these you can tell. Thank you for sharing this. It's really interesting.

Champ Townboy said...

Awesome post! Love the photo and appreciate the history!!

BTW, an rather interesting heron was spotted in Champions Gate this afternoon!

Lynette said...

I am so glad that your fine photo enlarged when I clicked on it. Peel Castle is so different from what I expected when I saw the smaller photo. Has the wall been restored or has it managed to stay in such great shape all by itself?

Small City Scenes said...

Great photo and great information. Thank you so much for sharing. I love history and am learning so much (both history and geography) from bloggers. MB

Alex Mazilu said...

i am fascinated how consequent you are and how much imagination you got...
Great job.

laxeylass said...

Brilliant post all round.

Brett said...

Great photo, have really enjoyed the set of posts.

Nathalie H.D. said...

The photo is magnificent and I really enjoyed reading about Magnus barelegs and his kilts!

Lake Lady said...

Compared to you, we Americans have so little recorded history. It's fascinating to learn how much has happened in such a small area. THANKS! Check in with my blogs the next few days.....I've had an odd bird enounter that made me think of yours! ;-)

Anonymous said...

Special photo and words of old times.

Tash said...

Looks like a castle that would come out one's imagination - very geometrical & out on the water like that. Terrific photo.

Anonymous said...

Ideal

TR Ryan said...

I love that seal!

Profile Not Available said...

It looks fascinating, and the history was interesting. I just love the name, "Magnus Barelegs"

Susan said...

It's a gorgeous shot of the castle!

Anonymous said...

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